NASHVILLE
Our story begins on the beautiful morning of January 7, 1962. It was on this snowy day, James Richard Parish and Helen Marie (Trimble) Parish welcomed Terri Ann into the world. Of course, we can’t know this for certain, we weren’t there, but we will assume this is where her love for snowy winter days started. Terri was one of five children (Tammy (Mike) Greenwood, Julie (Kenny) Barkman, Jamie Parish and Jeff (Michell) Parish) whose laughter filled the Parish household until she graduated in 1980 from Lincoln High School in Vincennes, Indiana.
Around this time, she found her love of serving the Lord through helping others. She led the Central Church of Christ church bus crew and sang along to all the greats with the kids they picked up. As she got older her passion for helping others grew. She took a position at Sam’s Club in 1997 as event coordinator. She directed many fundraisers for Riley Children’s Hospital and continued this work throughout her life. (Even dressing us up in Twinkie costumes…for a good cause)
Let’s skip to the good part! Terri had three children, Victoria (Craig) Brockhaus of Bargersville, Kristina (Paul) Henderson of Brown County, and Samantha (Josh) Thomas of Nashville. She found her purpose in life being the best mother ever. We know some of you have gotten that Mother’s Day card before, but she was the original. She worked hard for 34 years at Walmart so that her children would never know a struggle. They grew up in a house filled with love, the biggest Christmases you’ve ever seen, and chili without beans of course.
One glorious day, Terri Ann was promoted to Grandma Cookie. Was “Cookie” ever her last name? No, but being the grandma she was she always had cookies for the grands which led them to naturally come up with this name on their own. She cherished each and every one of her 18 grandchildren and became the grandmother that all others would be measured against.
Terri was no stranger to life’s ups and downs. She lived the classic fairytale and had to kiss a few frogs (our dad included) before meeting her Prince Charming, Joseph “Joe” Herner in 2012. This started the best twelve years of her life. She and Joe were married on February 17, 2017. Bonus, she also gained 3 more children; Amy (Alan) Upton of FL, Melissa (Jamie) Cline of Nashville and John Herner of FL. She was so proud of their combined family and loved telling people how many kids and grandkids she had. Terri absolutely adored Joe as he treated her as a true princess. Their love is the stuff of storybooks. They loved to travel, visit with family, play with their dogs, attend every possible event a grandchild could have, go for car rides, decorate for holidays… he even got her to eat onions. If you knew her, that alone says a lot.
Terri gained her wings unexpectedly June 18, 2024. She and Joe had just made it to Florida for vacation. Praise the Lord, because she would have been so upset if she passed away at work. She was welcomed in Heaven by her mother, Helen, and her father, Jimmy. We do assume that they are celebrating with pumpkin pie and a glass of milk, with ice in it, true Parish-style.
It is said, all good things must come to an end, and she was the best. The best wife, mother, sister, grandma, friend, dog mom, person… yes, the best person you could ever meet. She was always so proud of her family and loved them with every part of her being. She was the biggest cheerleader in all of their lives and will forever live on with them. She will be there with the smell of cookies baking, every pink flower blooming, every burnt hotdog, every grandchild’s laugh, every starry night sky, every time they see a butterfly but can’t catch a picture of it (this made her so angry), every George Strait song, every time they make egg noodles, every Christmas, every time they see a clearance sticker at the store, every car ride from work when they would usually chat, every time they have to wiggle their jeans on, every pink sunrise, every time they hear “Thriller”, every moment of celebration, every minute of every day. This is where the story should come to an end, but a love like this can’t just end. Her love, her story, will live on forever in the hearts of her family. Like the words of her favorite, George Strait… It’s a love without end, Amen.
A funeral service will be conducted on Thursday, June 27th at 7 p.m. at Meredith-Clark Funeral Home, 179 E. Mulberry Street in Morgantown. Friends may call from 5 p.m. until service time on Thursday at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be sent in memory of Terri to Riley Children’s Foundation, 500 N. Meridian Street, Ste. 100 Indianapolis, IN 46204.
